Simple strategy for winning at online slots

November 17th, 2008

Playing online slots is a great way to have some fun and actually win some money without knowing any complex rules. Although, the slot games do not involve any particular skills and are entirely chance-based, there are still some strategies that may help you win at online slots. Here are some recommendations for online slots players that may provide a slight advantage over the machine.

The first tip is to keep track of your money and make it last as long as possible. nline slots are all about fun, and the longer you have the money to play, the more fun it will be for you. Don’t put in the highest coins right from the start - kick off with the minimal denominations to get a taste of online slots. And if you’re feeling lucky you can increase your bets with every win Other bright idea is to set goals for your online slots playing session. If you are looking forward to hit a huge jackpot, then progressive online slots will be your slots of choice with hundreds of thousands of dollars on stake.

On the other hand, if you want to simply have some fun, consider straight slots or bonus online slots with frequent wins and additional spins. But the main strategy for online slots regardless of your goal is to aim for the jackpot and choose the machine you can afford. Otherwise it won’t as much fun playing online slots as it could be.

Wrap-play, Front-loading and Spooking in Blackjack

October 6th, 2008

To the public at large, one of the most incomprehensible things about professional blackjack strategies is hole-card play. Hole-card play is not a single strategy, but a whole range of strategies. To most casual range of blackjack players, this seems absolutely incredible and impossible, unless there is some sort of cheating going on. The one feature that can be found in all of these strategies is that the player either knows the dealer’s hole card, or has valuable information about that hole card, whether it’s a paint or not. But it’s not impossible, and in fact, most hole-card strategies are perfectly legal.

In introducing us to RC, Munchkin writes, “For every one hour spent on the table playing, the hole-card player may spend ten hours scouting… Holecarders spend hundreds of hours training their eyes to see something that flashes by in a fraction of a second, often cast in shadow. Most players, even if shown a dealer who is flashing, would not be able to spot the hole card anyway.”

Hole-card players speak their own language and have their own heroes. Most consider card counting too weak to be worth the trouble. But let’s look at some of the forerunners of today’s players, describe some of the most common hole-card strategies, and get a historical overview of this type of legal strategy.

James Grosjean’s Beyond Counting (now out of print, though a second edition has been announced) is widely regarded as the hole-carder’s bible. In 1980, Stanford Wong published a book, Winning Without Counting (now out of print), with an initial price tag of $200. To pros, the book was well worth it. Wong discussed many methods of hole-card play for the first time and provided the only detailed description and analysis of “warp” play ever in print.

In the old days, dealers used to manually peek under their tens and aces to see if they had a blackjack before satisfying the players’ hands. An observant player could see the arc in a dealer’s hole card created by hours of bending the corners of the tens and aces. Warp play was simply using this information to make strategy decisions.

In addition to everything Uston wrote about card counting and team play, Uston went into more detail about two of the hole-card techniques Wong had revealed the year before in Winning lnthout Counting: “spooking” and “front-loading.” Uston, in fact, had become quite adept as a hole-card player after his first book, The Big Player, was published in 1977.

Many quickly attain notoriety in the casinos and a degree of fame among other pros that appreciate the rare skills they have developed. Some dealers, in peeking, angled the card in such a way that a person standing behind them, or sitting at another table on the other side of the same pit, could glimpse the card also. The guy behind the dealer was called the spook. He would signal his buddies playing at the table with whatever information he could get on the hole card. Dealers don’t peek this way anymore, and this is one of the reasons why.

Couple of Common Mistakes in Blackjack

September 27th, 2008

Mistake: Some beginners suppose the best way to play is to play the same way the dealer plays: Hit all sixteens and stand on all seventeens. This is not true. The object of the game is not to make a hand as close to 21 as possible, but to beat the dealer.

Tip: This is the basic logic of blackjack in casino. There are exceptions to these guidelines, as the actual basic strategy decision for any given hand is determined by working out all of the mathematical probabilities. But if you just consider this logic when studying the basic strategy charts, the pattern will become clear to you and it should not be too difficult to memorize.

Mistake: The most common mistake beginners make is to stay too often on their stiff hands. But when the dealer has a high card showing, your best odds of winning come from hitting and giving yourself a chance of making a better total.

Every player is afraid that he will be responsible for his own loss. But that 14 you are holding is already in dire jeopardy when the dealer shows a 10 up. You must fight for the hand’s survival by taking the hit, giving it a chance of becoming a stronger hand against that 10. With a 14 against a 10, you must fight to the death.

On the other hand, if the dealer’s upcard is 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, and you are holding a stiff hand, you should stand. Since the dealer must hit his stiff hands, and chance busting even when you are stiff, hitting your weak hands is not advantageous against these weak upcards.

What is The Culture of Slots?

September 24th, 2008

What is The Culture of Slots?

For the most part, folks join already knowing what their counterparts are like when they are join the clubs. Book clubs, movie groups, knitting circles… they all have terms and ideologies about their group’s topics that can be, well, predictable.

When you initially sign up with a casino online you find that you may be new to the terms and phrases. Things like “progressive slots” may go right over your head. When this happens, it is usually okay and common to ask questions and even get together with other online slots players.

After you begin to play online casino slots several times and you learn more about the lingo that slots players use, you will find that you are not alone. There is a community of slots players who choose slots over any online casino or traditional casino game out there. With this, they take to the community of online slots always, forsaking all other games in the casino. Tiers of slots players begin with the novice player. Soon, you can build your way up to the professional level, that’s how easy it is to learn slots and develop a passion for winning money at the game.

In the beginning of the levels of slots online, you will see that there is always a willingness to help from more advance players. When you are playing in a regular online casino, you will see other players look over when they see you struggling. The culture of slots in traditional settings is a pretty uniform in comparison to online slots. While the majority of slots players in land based casinos are more inclined to drink or smoke given the social circumstances, online casino players will come in various shapes and sizes. This means that anyone from Joe Law Student to The Mailman or your local Elementary teacher may be playing a fun stress relieving game of slots online.

How Twenty-One Became Blackjack

September 20th, 2008

According to Richard Epstein (who had participated in Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic, Academic Press, 1977), black jack became popular during World War I, and was called this name from the practice of paying a bonus to a player who held an ace of spades with a jack of spades or clubs. John Scarne, (New Complete Guide to Gambling, 1961, Simon & Schuster), puts the year when this curious rule first appeared at 1912, when twenty-one tables appeared in horse-betting parlors in Evanston. According to Scarne. I believe Epstein’s information is taken from Scarne, and Scarne states that he discovered the origins of blackjack in America as a result of his private discussions with old-school gamblers, not from any published texts that can be looked up today.

I am rather skeptical of much of what Scarne has written about blackjack, so I’ll quote from Mickey MacDougall’s MacDougall on Dice and Cards, which was published prior to any of Scarne’s books: “Many professional players dress up the game by giving prizes for certain hands. A favorite stop is to offer ten times the size of the wager to anyone holding a natural twenty-one with a black jack. This adds interest to the game, but it also tempts a player to increase his stakes.”

Thorp also included a Simple Point Count in this new edition of his book, but at the time that strategy seemed way too simple to most players to gain much of an edge, or to be taken seriously by players who wanted to beat the game. Later, the power of Thorp’s simpler method of adjusting the running count, without keeping a separate count of the exact number of cards played, would be shown.

Still, the casino’s fears were mostly unfounded. The Complete Point Count was easier to use than the ten-count, but it was not a lot easier. In addition to the running count of the cards’ point total, the player had to keep a count of the exact number of cards remaining to be played. And in order to play his hand, he had to memorize a chart of 158 different strategy changes to be made according to the count.

Have no reservations about that Indian machine

September 10th, 2008

All the machines are linked to a central piece of software that plays bingo games among all you players. Whether you win or lose is decided by the virtual ball the software “picks”. Each game ends when a “winning” pattern in the game is achieved. It’s all very ingenious and, using this technology, the manufacturers of the games claim that the payouts are identical to the third class of game. Just one ending thought: if the class two and three games are identical in the way they play, how come this is not illegal? Casinos operated by American tribes are getting a lot more common so it’s worth a word about their video poker machines. In the Indian Gaming Act of 1988, the Federal Government classified three types of game:

  • social gambling that’s not for profit;
  • games that don’t rely on a House bank such as bingo and lotto; and
  • the traditional casino style of gambling games including slots and video poker machines.

To run the third class, the tribe has to negotiate a compact with the local State Government and, to be fair, many have done this. But some decided that regulation was not for them. If nobody told you, you wouldn’t know you were not playing a Vegas style of machine. Except that, once you lift the lid, the insides are very different. The headline news is that these machines don’t have a fixed hold percentage.

No one likes a sore loser! Win at Slots today.

September 6th, 2008

The first time I stepped into a casino, I had no clue on what to do or where to go. Everything around me was in action. It wasn’t until I was attracted to the slots machines that I understood where I had to be. Slots were the games to play. So play I did. In my first few moments, I racked up bonuses like you wouldn’t believe. I always bet max bet because I had heard from a friend that that was the way to go when looking for a larger payout. Soon I became a constant winner! I still don’t believe and can’t understand it, but this is true! The slots bonuses are always amazing and I feel as if right now, I am ready to begin playing slots tournaments. I can’t wait! There are so many different themes available and it is always nice to watch other players win money from playing free slots. I can tell these players practice from their own slots online. Anyone, who wants to play slots online, is a potential millionaire. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from being an everyday person just like me who likes to play slots!

There’s No Cheating in Casino Online Slots!

September 5th, 2008

There is absolutely no reason to think that you can influence on the game. But it is always a secret dream that you walk away bigger than the house. The only way to win is to play. And the only way to win big is to play like a pro. How does one become a pro, though? It takes time to become a professional anything, so don’t think for a moment that you can just pick up a game of poker with friends and suddenly have an innate gift of counting cards and reading expressions. Or can you? There is a great number of theories of slots and other games. The chances of you or me being one at casino games are pretty slim. However, the ability to increase your playing ability all depends on how often you visit the craps online, slots online , and poker online games you find on the internet. Looking for a free handout? Forget it. The games are competitive and fun so you have to find your way into the world and just go for it! Understand, though, that you are starting the way all new players start. Slow and steady and with enough patience you will be able to play like the pros do, winning money and mastering the games you love the most. There are ways to become a better player than the one you once were when you started. Online casinos are all waiting for you!

Anyone wanna buy a system?

August 29th, 2008

So I got me a little jolly device. He thinks - well, we can suspend judgement on that for so long as he keeps paying me - he thinks I should explain myself. Reckons he needs to make sure all the right people get their taste of the good stuff and we’re both of us out to oblige him. Damn, but some of this stuff is good! Makes me wanna give up the poker and the slot machines, and settle down with a bottle or two to enjoy my retirement. Anyways, the young fellah just called. Caught me in a mellow mood for once. In one piece I’m saying there’s, “a proper mathematical playing strategy for video poker.” In the next, I’m saying there’s a gambler’s fallacy and you can’t predict the cards. He thinks they doesn’t fit right together. Look around online. You’ll see a small army of people touting their systems for beating all casino games with a house advantage. Play slot machines, win big. Win at blackjack without counting. When I was growing up, my mother used to play 78s all the time. She loved the musicals of the 1920s. She’d never been on the chorus line, but she’d a hankering for it. Her parents disapproved of theatrical folk and that was an end of that. So here’s a few words to make it all crystal. Did you ever see Ocean’s 11 - don’t matter whether it was the original Rat Pack version or the new ones with George Clooney and his pals? Did you notice how they always robbed the casinos. There was never a hint of walking through the door with a system for winning at the tables or on the slot machines. Hollywood got it right for once. The only way you guarantee a big score at a casino is as a thief - and you’ve to be lucky to enjoy your “takings” and avoid the hail of bullets if you get caught by wrong people. Anyways, one of my favorites was Banana Oil - kinda like snake oil but always applied to lounge-lizard lines. “When he tells you, ‘I adore you,’ that’s banana oil.” In other words, everything he said to get his mark into bed was bullshit. Well, the same goes for all these salesmen pushing betting systems for slot machines. They’re trying to scam you outa your money. Take it from me. There ain’t no system around that even dents the House edge on games where the probabilities are set in the House’s favor. Math is math. Mind you. It’s not my money - you wanna fool yourself you can shade the odds in your favor on video poker, then feel free. So, how do these systems work? You’re supposed to base your bets on the most recent outcomes. Take roulette as an example. Wait for a run of blacks, then bet on red - the longer the run, the bigger the bets on red. If you see a pattern emerging, you’re supposed to think that the probabilities of the game itself have changed. When I worked for casinos, we always nodded wisely when someone cautiously asked if they could play a system. Another little chicken ripe for the plucking. My father was counting deaths by the million over decades for the life companies. Probabilities and statistics only make sense in the long view. Short-term, you’ll find anomalies in all slot machines but, over time, the basic patterns are set in stone and in the House’s favor. You’ll see lucky streaks that look like they’re never going to end. But, so long as the House keeps its nerve, the winner will lose it all back again. You’ve invested that money in a system. You’re not going to quit while you’re ahead, are you? Which means that any small winnings you picked up on the good days will all get given back to the casinos on the bad days. It’s just the way the House edge works. Like I say, you can’t beat the math. Which leaves me with my strategy, which I’ll get back to when I’m good and ready.

When reality and fantasy collide, something’s got to give

August 27th, 2008

People are often seduced by the idea of everything for very little. That is why they often drop a coin or two into a slot machine as they walk into a real world casino. The myths are “out there”. Lightning can always strike you. These habits do have a basis in reality. There are real stories to back up the myths so, perhaps, it is always worth dropping a coin or two just on the off-chance…

One of the major companies in the casino games industry is Microsoft. In WinAJackpot.com, they have produced the first progressive network to link online, mobile and real-world jackpots. The net has just made a jackpot payout of slightly less than US$2.5m. Over the last three months, this is the second payout exceeding $2m. The total amount paid out on this system since its launch now stands at more than $33m.

So, our congratulations go to Rens.S. who, on the 1st February, was just $23,750 shy of $2.5m for a single spin of the wheels. Now, you might think this is a single system all on its own. It may be making big payouts, but not every progressive is making big payouts.

Well, meet Klaus E. from Finland. This April, he also became an instant millionaire. He risked an entire US$0.50 bet on the Mega-Moolah Progressive Slot Machine and managed to scoop $5.5m. That he was slightly surprised by his good fortune probably does not quite capture the moment.

Now we must all stay calm. These players are the exception that makes the rule that everyone who plays the slots ends up a loser. Ren and Klaus have joined a fairly exclusive band of players that have “hit the big time”. For the record, Klaus was the thirteenth player to become an instant millionaire on this particular online progressive (let no-one say that thirteen is always an unlucky number). But, by any standards, a win of more than $5m is fairly impressive. It brings the total winnings since the system came online to $27m.

When you do start looking at the facts, the online casino games industry is maturing fast. As millions more players on cross-platforms start to play, the progressive jackpots will rise more quickly. There will be more big payouts. You see that when your luck is in, you can suddenly find yourself rich for a small stake. When I was younger, cinemas used to run movies back-to-back in a rolling program through the day. You could go in and watch the cycle through as many times as you wanted. So this is where I came in when I started writing this article. People are fascinated by the prospect that, for a small outlay, they might hit it big. The trick is to keep the odds in perspective and never spend more than you can afford chasing the dream. Subject to that, it never hurts to drop a coin or two into one of the casino games. You never know, today might be your lucky day when fantasy does become reality and changes your life.